Political climate and the call for change

AFTER announcing his return to politics to contest the redrawn seat of Cowper, Rob Oakeshott set about winning votes in Coffs Harbour on Sunday.

Mr Oakeshott met with the Coffs Coast Climate Action Group to sign its Pollution Free Politics pledge at the Harbourside Markets.

CCAG is weighing into Federal Election campaigning by organising an election forum at C.ex Coffs on Tuesday, June 21 at 6pm calling for candidates in both Cowper and Page to discuss policies to address climate change.

The public is invited to attend the Q & A style forum.

"Recent polls have shown that strong climate policies are a vote-winner, with a clear majority favouring a transition to 100% renewable energy, cutting carbon pollution to zero and real protection for the Great Barrier Reef," forum organiser Sarah Wood said.

"Here in Coffs, we have a very high uptake of rooftop solar, so we know the community is on board with clean energy - and we expect our representatives in parliament to be on board too.

"The recent storms here and along the East Coast demonstrate how damaging the combination of a super-charged climate and rising sea levels can be already.

"This follows a record hot, dry start to the year, with widespread coral bleaching and shocking fires in Tasmania's world heritage forests. This is just a taste of things to come if we don't act fast - but are our political leaders joining the dots?"

She said the forum is an opportunity for all the candidates to outline their vision for action on climate.

"With independent Rob Oakeshott now in the race, we can't assume that Cowper will remain a safe National Party seat, and Page is also a close contest," Ms Wood said.

"There are big differences in candidates' climate and energy policies and we encourage everyone to get informed and make their vote count," she said.

Coffs Coast Climate Action Group, a non-partisan community group, will publish a comparison table on candidates' climate and energy policies. See coffsclimateaction.weebly.com.